Saturday, June 27, 2015

Agriculture is Rwanda’s main economic sector, employing around 80 percent of the population. Though there is great potential for growth, farmers are limited by small farm size, declining soil fertility and limited access to value addition services. In collaboration with the national government, the World Food Programme’s Purchase for Progress (P4P) project is working to help smallholder farmers meet their potential to improve livelihoods and strengthen the national economy.

The Government is expanding pro-smallholder support under “Common P4P”

The Government of Rwanda is taking ownership of and scaling up P4P under a state-run initiative called “Common P4P” (CP4P), which is increasing the reach of efforts to support smallholder farmers. Government efforts have been key in improving quality control, supporting farmers with inputs and training, and providing farmers with a market under the National Strategic Grain Reserve. Between 2011 and 2014, the Government of Rwanda purchased more than 10,000 metric tons (worth an estimated US$4.5 million) of commodities from cooperatives under CP4P for the National Strategic Grain Reserve.

Other buyers are making more purchases from smallholder farmers

Under P4P, milling companies such as SOSOMA and MINIMEX were linked to P4P-supported cooperatives to demonstrate the feasibility of buying from smallholder farmers’ cooperatives. Many other buyers have also learned from the P4P approach to pro-smallholder procurement, and are now making purchases from smallholder farmers in the country. Big off takers include the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Rwanda Cereal and Grain Corporation (RGCC) and SARURA Commodities Ltd. These buyers learned from the P4P experience, particularly on good practices for contracting with farmers and ensuring quality standards.

Land fragmentation limits production

As a small country with a large and growing population, land fragmentation poses a major challenge to agriculture in Rwanda. Much of the country’s land is broken into small fragmented parcels. This means that one family may have small plots of land in many different locations, reducing the efficiency of their agricultural labour and restricting the use of mechanization. Since 2007, the government has implemented a Crop Intensification Programme to mitigate this challenge, increasing productivity through land use consolidation and increased use of agricultural inputs. P4P and CP4P both responded to and stimulated the production surplus created by these efforts.

Smallholder farmers are accessing loans

P4P and partners work with the Rabobank Foundation to help smallholder farmers’ cooperatives access credit. Cooperatives have undergone training in financial literacy, improving their ability to manage finances and increasing their access to loans. Access to credit is vital for farmers to invest in increasing productivity and aggregating crops for sale, enabling the timely purchase of farming inputs – such as seeds and fertilizers – and allowing farmers’ organizations to pay smallholders with cash as soon as they have delivered their crops.

Officials from other governments are learning from Rwanda

P4P has facilitated exchange visits to Rwanda by government officials from countries including Burkina Faso, Ghana and Kenya. These visits have provided insight as to how government ownership and pro-smallholder market development policies can generate meaningful and lasting change.

Muhawenimana Triphonie uses her mobile phone to get information on market prices. Using this information, and marketing skills learned under P4P, she is now able to earn fair prices for her maize. - Copyright: WFP/JohnPaul Sesonga